By Claire Chandler
Alaska Journal of Commerce

(Editor's note: The following article is the first in a series of three looking at women in Alaska's work force. This first article examines why a higher rate of women work in Alaska compared to the national average. The series will also explore the make-up of Alaska's work force by gender and occupation, as well as profiling some of the state's women entrepreneurs.)

Rosita Worl's passion for anthropology motivated her to work despite any barriers she may have encountered as a woman, and she is not alone in Alaska. More Alaska women participate in the work force than the national average, according to the 2000 census.

Two-thirds of Alaska women work, compared to 57.5 percent of women nationally, the most recent census reported.

"Even in the 1960s, (Alaska) female participation in the labor force was much above the national average," said Neal Fried, economist with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. "It has been true for a long time. Alaska, relative to the rest of the country, has always been high."

About 40 percent of women throughout the state worked in 1960, compared to 36 percent nationally.

The greatest increase in the rate of women in Alaska - and in the nation - entering the work force occurred during the 1970s and the 1980s, Fried said.

When women's participation in the work force rose from 46 percent of women working to 66 percent.

Worl was among these working women in the 1970s as she began her career as an anthropologist in Alaska, after completing her education Outside. Her motivation to pursue higher education stemmed from an understanding that she needed more than a high school diploma to advance in the labor force.

"I started off as a typist, which was mostly all women," Worl said. "I knew that I probably had equal talents to some of the men I was working for, but I wasn't educated. So I went to school."

Fried attributes the large increase in the number of women entering the work force during this time to a major societal change occurring throughout the nation, including Alaska. "There was a very large social and cultural change going on where more and more women chose to enter the labor force," he said.

Since the 1990s, the percentage of working women in the work force has remained steady, with more Alaska women per capita in the work force than the national average.

"The demographics (of Alaska) is a pretty powerful explanation," Fried said. "But I suspect it is probably more than just demographics."

Alaska has a greater percentage of people, both women and men, who are of working age compared to the rest of the nation, reported state demographer Greg William. As the baby boomers begin to retire in the next five to 10 years, Alaska's make-up will more closely resemble that of the nation, he added.

The large number of public sector jobs in Alaska may also contribute to the state's high rate of working women, Fried suggested. "We have a large public sector and women are always well-represented in the public sector."

The government employs a greater portion of women than men in many areas, such as administrative positions, he added, and the public sector accounts for 27 percent of the Alaska's work force, compared 17 percent nationally.

Fried and others also cite a greater demand for workers, regardless of their gender, as a reason for Alaska's unique work force.

"I think that there is some historical precedent," said Sharon Araji, sociology professor at University of Alaska Anchorage and the director of women's studies at the university. "I think it goes back to the development of the pipeline, when there were so many jobs and it didn't matter if they were male or female if they could fill them."

Worl recounted observing wide-scale development in the Arctic during the oil boom. With a significant increase in the number of available jobs, women entered the work force in large numbers, she said.

But as the rapid development subsided and the economy in Alaska went sour, the high paying, and generally male-dominated, jobs in construction and other fields decreased while many of the jobs held by women remained, Worl noted.

Not much has changed since, she added: "All you have to do is look at rural Alaska."

Male-dominated and seasonal occupations like that of fishing may also lead to more women working in Alaska, Fried speculated. Women with families and a husband who holds a seasonal job, he explained, may seek year-round pay to contribute to the household income.

A second income to meet the demands of Alaska's higher cost of living correlates with a greater portion of Alaska women working, Fried noted, though the correlation does not necessarily indicate cause.

Like a number of Alaska women, Judy Brady, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, has worked in the state for more than four decades. "I continued to work out of need mostly," she said, citing that while her husband began a business, it took a second income to support their family.

When Brady moved to Fairbanks in 1963, there was a demand for workers. She described a working environment that was becoming increasingly accessible to women.

Though there were many opportunities for women, "it was unusual for women to be managers," she said. "That changed incredibly fast. It didn't just happen because women wanted to move up, men had to be open to the idea."

Araji reported a general consensus among females that there is less discrimination in Alaska than in the Lower 48.

"You have to look at it historically, once a state offers jobs to women, it encourages them to take these jobs and tell other women about it," she said. "That doesn't mean that we don't have discrimination here, but I think you will find it less than many of the other states."

Brady attributes the precedent set by some working women in Alaska as a factor in the opportunities available to others. "If one is going to do something different and if the first person who does it is good, then it breaks down barriers," she said.

"Other people may speculate that it is the characteristics of women that come to Alaska," Fried said. This explanation, however, cannot be statically backed, he added. "The problem with the economists is that we want everything to be backed up by statistics, but not everything can be."

There are women in Alaska willing to take jobs that are generally considered men's work, Araji noted. "I think that Alaska does bring people who may be more adventurous, risk-takers or have a strong sense of independence. In coming to Alaska I have found many more women like that than I have in other states."

Araji cites women's access to jobs in Alaska and the characteristics of its women as significant factors in the high rate of working women in the northernmost state. "It's the combination of the environment and the type of women who came, and once came they stayed here."